Anderson "The Spider" Silva (23-4) recently defended his UFC middleweight title to Canadian fighter Patrick "The Predator" Cote (now 13-5) late October at UFC 90. Silva pulled off a TKO win after Cote injured his knee in the first few seconds of the third round. A tragic main event for the UFC, but it was Silva who remained with his belt that night in the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois.
Sources indicate Silva will be defending his middleweight title against 14-1 fighter Thales Leites. Leites will look to step into the octagon in mid-April to try to take away Silva’s belt most likely at the UFC 97 event, scheduled to take place in Montreal, Canada. Although Leites lost to Martin Kampann during his debut, he was able to quickly bounce back by winning 5 consecutive bouts against Pete Sell, Floyd Sword, Ryan Jensen, Nate Marquardt and Drew McFedries. The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu expert has proven to be the most qualified candidate for the UFC title shot in the middleweight division.
Silva plans to add another win to his 9-fight winning streak coming into this fight. He has proven to the MMA world that his fighting skills are compatible to both the middleweight and the light heavyweight division. Although he plans on returning to the 205-pound weight class, the UFC feels that he would need to defend his title after an unfortunate ending during his last fight with Cote.
